Design Awards
Arlington Lakes Golf Club
Located in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Arlington Lakes is owned and operated by the Arlington Heights Park District. As a Park District course, it is very popular and home to a variety of golfers.
The course opened in 1979 on land that was part of the U.S. Army Nike Missile Base. The community rallied together, worked with the government, and was awarded the land to build the course. Since that time the only updates to the course included a new irrigation system.
That all changed in 2014 when I was selected from a talented group of architects to create a Master Plan for the Park District. This Plan focused on enhancing the original design and making a golf course that will be more accessible to the wide variety of golfers they receive. We saw an opportunity create a course that would be more appealing to beginners, juniors, and families.
The final design reduced the number of bunkers from 106 to 37. New greens were built and all the green resurfaced to produce consistent playing conditions with reduced maintenance. Finally, we built new tees and adjusted the course to produce a routing that returns every third hole to the clubhouse on the front nine. Combine this with a forward tee playing to 2,900 yards, with par 4's playing from 130-160 yards, and we developed a course where a golfer can play three or six holes in less than an hour. This is appealing to families and golfers who are looking to enjoy a short time on the course.
In 2016, Arlington Lakes was selected as a recipient of the Design Excellence Program by the American Society of Golf Course Architects. The committee was impressed by the innovative routing adjustments that look to grow the game by providing alternatives to the typical nine and eighteen hole rounds of golf. We are finding that golfers enjoy this opportunity.
Canyata Golf Club
Working on a golf course project that involves an almost unlimited budget is both exciting and scary. While working at Lohmann Golf Designs, we got that opportunity with Canyata.
The owner of Canyata wanted the best he could get. The project is located on his family estate in Marshall, IL, about an hour southeast of Champaign. Being a family golf course, the idea was to create an atmosphere that took advantage of the natural aspects of the site and a place they could relax. Canyata means 'Backwoods' in the Native American language, and it is fitting given the site.
The project started out as a four hole golf course for the family enjoyment. Following the completion of these holes the owner decided "to at least put in nine holes of golf". Knowing he had enough land, we approached him with the idea of expanding to 18-holes. He was a little hesitant and after I explained that the back nine would be better then the front he agreed and we continued on with construction.
At this time the goal changed from a family retreat golf course to one that would be nationally recognized. The design encompassed large greens and expansive fairways and was not meant to be a difficult course. We added new tees to stretch out the yardage to increase the challenge and today the course plays to nearly 7,300 yards. When completed, the owner acknowledged that the back was indeed better and was glad we continued on.
Canyata opened in 2005 as was nominated in Golf Digest in the Best New Private Course category. The final rankings came in and Canyata was selected as the Runner-Up course.
After starting my firm I was asked to continue to work with Canyata to insure the course stays current with todayʼs market. Currently Golf Digest ranks Canyata #60 in Americaʼs Top 100 Courses and #4 in Illinois.
Mattaponi Springs Golf Club
Located just north of Richmond, VA, Mattaponi Springs is another design that I worked on while at Lohmann Golf Designs. It was our first new golf course on the east coast and I was happy to be involved with the project. The course is located on nearly three hundred acres of woodlands with sandy soil. It is ideal land for a golf course.
The project was developed by a single owner and took four years to build. We worked with the owner to line up the proper construction personnel and the golf course was completed in phases. It is not the ideal way to build a golf course, but it did help to reduce cost. The drawback was in the delayed opening date.
Mattaponi opened in 2005 to big reviews. Given its location, and being a standalone project with no housing development, golfers enjoyed getting away from everything and being out in nature. The project was nominated for Best New Upscale Public Course in the Golf Digest magazine's yearly rankings and was selected as Runner-Up in that division. While it is in an 'off the beaten track' location, the course continues to be an area favorite and host to many college tournaments.
